Question on Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free v10.0.17.13908

G'day all,

Is it okay to install the latest Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free Edition v10.0.17.13908 over the top of the Paragon Backup & Recovery 2011 Adv Free Edition v10.0.15.12802, or do I have to uninstall the older version first before adding the latest version.

Finally can the latest version read the old Paragon Backup & Recovery 2011 Adv Free bootable disk or do I have to start a new bootable disk.

Thank you.

 

If you don't uninstall the old version you'll get an error during install. I always create a Recovery Disc with a new version.

 

You could argue that if an previous version's recovery disk works then why bother with making a new one. OTOH, you won't have any of the possible improvements the new version provides.

I wouldn't consider using a new version without creating a recovery CD from that version. You just never know when it might save your butt and the time to create it is when things are working not when you are in panic mode.

BTW, I also keep recovery CDs for several versions just in case I should ever have to roll way back to an old archive for some reason.

 

Understood and thank you

 

Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free NEVER worked for me, it would be a real mess restoring images as Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free got confused and mixed up my partitions etc.

But once I got Paragon Backup and Recovery 11 Compact Edition, it works great and restores images properly and reliably.

 

I have just used the BR11 Compact to an image a newly installed 7x64 partition - with updates and a few programs added.

Surprised me how fast it was.

There was only 11.5 gb used space - but despite paragon's initial wild overestimate of the time - it only took about 5 mins.

Compression was pretty good too.

I notice that cpu and ram usage has been increased - probably why it is quicker than it used to be.

It is still less resource hungry than some other imaging apps. use - so a good result.

BTW -BR11 Compact is version 10.0.17.13783

 

If anyone knows, I'm very curious about that free B&R 2012 version and why it might be less reliable than BR11 for any straightforward backup ops that it is capable of handling. Is that deficiency confirmed by others?

Fewer capabilities in the free version are one thing, but it would seem like a very poor "giveaway" strategy to make it less reliable than the paid version for anything that it can do.

 

Hi Arvy,

I don't know if the free B&R2012 is less reliable - I haven't really used it.

However:

I am surprised to find the bootcorrect.exe included in the newer Paragon apps. - v 10.0.16 and v10.0.17 are throwing up errors on my system .

I don't get that with the earlier versions.

They give the same errors when I run them from pe.

Can you try running bootcorrect.exe and see if you have any issues with it?

The error pops up after I click on "Windows Installations to correct"

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=316924

 

May take me a while to get back to you as I'm leaving town for couple of days, but I will follow up ASAP. I only have the paid version of the latest HDM 11 Suite release (10.0.17.1390 but I would assume its bootcorrect inclusion is the same as the rest of the 11 series apps.

 

Found a free minute to do a quick check before leaving and saw no similar error pop-up on starting bootcorrect.exe directly. And no error either when I selected the "Windows installation to correct" option. Anything else you'd like me to try?

 

Thanks for trying it out.

May be something on my system then.

Strange - the previous versions all work fine.

 

YES I agree! Paragon Backup and Recovery 11 Compact Edition is SUPER fast, I was very surprised as well. Not sure why it's so fast, AFAIK it uses the linux drivers as well. Very happy. Where the Paragon free version FAILED to restore my images, Paragon Backup and Recovery 11 Compact Edition SUCCEEDED and very fast too

 

@SIW2: You're entirely welcome. Happy to follow up with you or others on anything like that anytime. I have a multiboot (WinXP, Vista, Win7) setup along with multiple PE1, PE2 and PE3 boot options. So, between us, it should be possible to get any anomalies pinned down, or at least decide whether or not they originate in the product itself. I'm still curious about that purported B&R 2012 deficiency. If there is an actual problem in their "giveaway" restoration capability, it really should be dealt with as a matter of some urgency. Seems odd as the Paragon software packages appear very similar so far as I can tell.

__
P.S.: In case anyone wonders, yes I have a "family pack" HDM 11 Suite license, although I don't think it's actually required for multibooting on a single physical machine.

 

Thanks.

Have sent logs to Paragon to see if they can pin down the issue.

I think there is something on one of my HD's that is upsetting it.

 

Where can I get this compact version to try?

I have been using the full BR10 after winning a license in the Wilders prize draw a few years ago and think this is a good time to upgrade.

Is it possible to get a free trial of this faster compact edition so I can try it out as I don't need all the features of the full versions.

 

I think it was a special - not for sale.

Looks like BR 11 Home is the same thing with a couple of extra functions.


http://www.paragon-software.com/home/brc/comparison.html

 

Keep an eye out on giveawayoftheday website, thats where I got it from for free and it's likely to be offered again one day.

 

The free version never worked for me or on my HD's. The Compact edition however works fine.

 

Thanks to you both for your replies, and yes it seems to have been on offer on the giveaway site after they had it at a lower cost to the full BR11. I have just tried the BR12 free version which failed to even start hot processing and just hung on preparation to do a backup.

That's why I really liked what both of you said about the compact version as it would have been perfect for my basic needs. I wonder why Paragon have now decided to stop even offering it at the previous lower cost before they put it on the giveaway site... maybe this is the policy that once a product goes there free they then pull it as a paid alternative.

So for now I will stick to my BR10 which in fairness works well but I'm one that likes to try out latest versions of software and get any advantages that are then incorporated.

 

I'll stick with my other version of PB&R 2011 Adv Free Edition as the new version of PB&R 2012 Free Edition creating problems, and anyone reported the issue of the latest version

 

The 2012 free version is a tragedy and disaster, the boot CD doesn't even detect all my partitions correctly.

Thank goodness though I was able to get a free version of the COMPACT EDITION which creates a properly working boot CD.

 

I don't have any issues with it. Just an over-simplified interface by default.

 

Darn! you lucky bastard I didn't grab one in time when I found out

 

I am sorry to hear that. But keep an eye on giveawayoftheday website each day as I have seen Paragon come up a few times over the last 6 months.